Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Simon & GarfunkelEdition: Music CD
Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2001-08-21
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Bookends Theme
- Save The Life Of My Child
- America
- Overs
- Voices Of Old People
- Old Friends
- Bookends Theme
- Fakin' It
- Punky's Dilemma
- Mrs. Robinson
- A Hazy Shade Of Winter
- At The Zoo
- You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies
- Old Friends
Free Music Notes for Bookends
Free Music Review: "What's becoming of our children?"
Hit: 5 Stars
Whilst the duo's previous masterwork (1966's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme) showcased both Paul Simon's supremely literary lyricism and Art Garfunkel's gorgeously elegiac vocals at the height of their powers, 1968's Bookends transcends its predecessor in terms of its understated ambition.
Whilst it is possible to view Bookends as something of a parody of all that S&G and their contemporaries were (rightly or wrongly) associated with (be it folk rock, 60s counter-culture, the ever-widening disparity between age and youth), the wryness of many of the its tracks belies the top-to-bottom subversive nature of a record conventionally viewed as one of transition.
Traditional production values and classic song structure in particular are each flagrantly disavowed by Simon's lithe song writing and Garfunkel's atypical vocal arrangements - most notably Simon's almost zeugmatic lyrical stream on `Save the Life of My Child' or Garfunkel's beautiful interlude on `Overs' - on the album where each of the duo's customary roles are least apparently delineated, rendering Bookends their most diplomatic work.
Themes of age and existence pervade the record with many tracks calling into question many sacrosanct inter-/intra-generational ideals yet refusing to divulge any definitive answers. Indeed it is the tracks that most apparently partake this ambiguous stance - `America', `Old Friends', `Bookends', `A Hazy Shade of Winter' and perhaps the duo's most famous work, `Mrs Robinson' - that have become amongst the most beloved in S&G's canon.
For much of it's overt seriousness and underlying caveat however, there is still an infectious sense of exuberance to Bookends with some memorably ornate touches here and there (`Fakin' It' and `Punky's Dilemma' in particular) - and it would take a heart of stone not to raise a smile at Garfunkel's outrageous falsetto-counter to Simon's vocal on the line "'he must be high on something,' someone said!" during `Save the Life of My Child'.
Bookends Poster
Track for track, this is Simon & Garfunkel's best album. By 1968, Simon had shed his more precious tendencies as a songsmith. Meanwhile, the duo and coproducer/engineer Roy Halee had become adept studio technicians. "America" and "Mrs. Robinson" displayed the kind of sonic breadth that would flower even more fully two years later with "The Boxer" and "Bridge over Troubled Water." Bits of whimsy ("Punky's Dilemma," "At the Zoo") and melancholy ("Old Friends," "A Hazy Shade of Winter") complete this autumnal album. (The 2001 reissue adds two bonus tracks, including a demo of "Old Friends.") --Steven StolderFolk Music CDs
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